Michelle versus Nina
by Flight of Folly
Summary: An alternative to Season 3, 2:55 to 3:15am Nina's death . This is how Michelle would have handled the situation.
1. The Escape

**Disclaimer:** This is a work of fan fiction, hence by definition I do not own any of the 24 characters about which I am writing.

**Setting:** This scene is an alternative to Season 3, 2:55 to 3:00am. Therefore it takes place after the Tony's interrogation of Nina during which they trade personal attacks, with Nina ahead two points to one. Michelle is watching, still upset at Tony after their latest post-hospital argument. Richards is brought in to torture Nina, but she stabs herself in the neck with his needle and is sent to Medical.

**A/N:** This idea came to mind while originally watching this episode. Nina's death bothered me on two counts, it meant we never had a chance to see Michelle versus Nina, something I am about to remedy. Secondly it made Jack lower himself to cold-blooded revenge, which he admitted to Tony in Season 5, didn't ease his grief.

_2:55 am. Nina is rushed to Medical after her "suicide attempt" and once apparently sedated Tony leaves Medical to inform Jack and Chappelle of the situation…_

Barely three steps out of Medical, Tony is accosted by Adam with yet another complaint against Chloe. After 5 minutes of mediation, Tony recommences his path towards the Situation Room. Then he hears it, a muffled sound he can't quite place behind him. Turning around he glimpses her too late to react, Nina immediately presses a razor sharp scalpel blade against his throat. Allowing her arm to drape causally across his shoulder, Nina leans forward and with an amused tone whispers in his ear: "Why don't you and I go for a little walk together, Tony?"

"You're not going anywhere Nina, so why don't you just give up while you are ahead." Tony felt the bite of the blade as it dug into his throat and involuntarily flinched.

"You know exactly what I'm capable of Tony, so maybe you should think about the lucky Mrs Almeida before you do anything she'll regret" Nina stated in a dispassionate manner.

The memories of his last angry encounters with Michelle flashed into Tony's mind, he hadn't had the time to deal with their problems and he couldn't, he wouldn't, leave things like that. Tony began to walk slowly towards the bullpen.

At her station, Michelle frantically typed away on her keypad desperately searching for any thread on Nina's acquaintance with Alvers. Now that they know the degree of their relationship, Michelle was determined to ferret out the details if only to wipe that smirk from Nina's face. Frowning in concentration at the screen it took a few minutes for Michelle to realise that something was wrong. Looking up she felt her heart stop, there was Tony, her Tony, with his life once again in the calculating hands of Nina Myers. She had to do something, yesterday afternoon when he was shot at the mall she was helpless to assist but now she was ranking agent.

"Kim, initiate a lock-down and get security in here now!" she ordered while hastily walking towards Tony and Nina. That is when she saw it, Jack Bauer, slowly creeping out of the Situation Room gun drawn, eyes fixed on Nina and Tony.

Constantly surveying her surroundings, Nina spotted Jack shortly after Michelle did.

"Drop the gun Jack or Tony's dead"

"If you kill him I've have a clear shot Nina, I'm not going to miss from this distance" Jack responded staring right at Nina, as if to dare her to act.

Having initially frozen several feet away from the stand off, Michelle now spurred herself into action, angling in between Jack and his targets: "Put the gun away Jack, we need her alive".

Turning towards Nina, Michelle crossed her arms and established eye contact. She forced herself to continue in a calm, professional voice "The building is locked-down Nina, you will not be able to leave regardless of the number of people you are willing to kill. So stop wasting my time and give yourself up."

Returning Michelle's stare, Nina replied "I'm sorry, Miss…"

"Agent Dessler" Michelle replied while discretely ensuring her left hand was safely buried out of Nina's sight.

"Miss Dessler, let's get one thing straight, you are not currently in charge, I am"

"Actually Nina, I beg to differ" countered Michelle one eyebrow raised. She preceded to turn back towards Jack, ordering him: "Shoot Tony then take Nina down, just make sure she survives."

"Forgot it Michelle, find someone else to help you get that promotion" Jack responded stepping alongside Michelle while lowering his weapon. "If you are so sure you're in control, why don't you just handle this yourself?"

As Jack spoke, Michelle felt a weight settle at the small of her back; Jack had covertly slipped her his gun. In their semi-regular self-defence training sessions, Tony always told her that the most important thing was to move quickly and with commitment.

Returning her gaze to Nina, Michelle noted the amusement on her face as she watched their exchange. Allowing her anger to surface, Michelle stepped forward closing the gap between them and spat out "You've chosen the wrong person to pick a fight with Nina"

Nina's smirk widened, and as she opened her mouth to reply, Michelle took her opportunity. Quickly clearing the remaining space between them in a swift step, she deflected Nina's wrist, and the scalpel blade in it, with her right hand. Her left hand immediately followed securing Nina's wrist and twisting hard to force her to release the scalpel blade. While Nina's attention was directed at her wrist, Michelle lashed out with her right hand, using the blade of her palm to deliver a sharp blow to the delicate nerves of her neck. The force of the blow caused Nina's head to snap back sending her backwards into a workstation before sinking onto the floor. Removing the concealed weapon, Michelle levelled it at Nina's head. "You OK, Tony?"

"Yeah. Nice shot, sweetheart." Tony replied casting Michelle a sideways glance and half smile as he stepped alongside her.

A combination of relief for Tony's safety and pride at her ability to ensure it, brought a smile to Michelle's face for the first time in over 12 hours. Looking across at Tony out of the corner of her eye she responded light-heartedly, "Honey, you keep cooking and I'll keep saving your life."

Nina listened intently to the exchange, fixing her eyes on Michelle's wedding ring, now clearly visible on her left hand which was stabilising her right on the gun grip.

"Well, well… Mrs Almeida." Nina stated, slowly eyeing Michelle before turning her attention to Tony. " Still having trouble keeping your personal and professional lives separate, Tony?"

Ignoring Nina's comment, Tony turned towards Jack who had moved around to cover Michelle, back-up weapon in hand. "Jack, could you arrange for Patterson to come and escort Nina back to Holding Room 1.

As Jack headed off, Michelle fixed her gaze and gun onto Nina, carefully to maintain an impassive tone. "Nina, get up slowly and keep your hands where I can see them."

"It must be hard to earn your colleagues respect, sleeping with the boss" was Nina's only response.

Standing above Nina gun pointed straight at her head, Michelle placed a single shot millimetres from her target. Nina continued to focus on Michelle, unsure now whether it was a wise move to evoke her ire.

"Up now, Nina!" Michelle barked, in a no-nonsense tone.

Nina calmly raised her open hands in front of her and arose to her feet, positioning herself mid-way between Tony and Michelle thus allowing herself to maintain constant eye contact with them both. "I see you still like them feisty, Tony."

"Nina, the only thing you can say to interest me is the whereabouts of Alvers. And considering your love life currently involves a double crossing HIV positive associate, I wouldn't be offering relationship advice if I was you.'

Not bothering to even look at Nina's reaction to this statement, Tony turned towards Jack and Agent Patterson, who he had noted approaching in his peripheral vision. "Take Nina back to Holding Room 1 and make sure she is fully secured. Allow Medical to administer whatever treatment they can without the removal of her restraints."

Leaving Jack to supervise, Tony turned towards Michelle but before they could speak Chappelle approached. After a brief congratulatory comment to Michelle on her handling of the situation, he immediately requested that they both undergo full debriefs. Focusing on Tony, he further enquired "What do you plan to do with Nina now?"

Scratching his face while glancing over his shoulder at Nina, Tony responded "I'll let medical attend to her wound while I debrief and then I'll try talking to her again. Obviously Richards isn't the way to go."

"Let me have a go at her" Jack commented as he joined them.

Turning his attention to Jack, Tony replied "I don't know if that's a good idea, Jack."

"Nina never does anything unless it's in her best interests, and ensuring that I don't kill her is in her best interests" Jack rebutted.

Chappelle nodded "Jack may have a point Tony."

"Fine, but you're not going in there alone." Tony conceded. A half smirk crossed his face as he continued, "Maybe I should send Michelle in with you and see who kills her first."

A faint smile crossed Michelle's face and suddenly Tony stepped forward oblivious to the crowded bullpen and embraced her in a tight hug. Burying his face in her hair, he whispered into her ear, "About earlier, I am so sorry sweetheart", leaning back slightly to look straight into her eyes, he added "I love you, Michelle."

"I love you, Tony." Michelle responded softly as she briefly kissed him before the pair headed off for their debriefs leaving behind an embarrassed Chappelle. A slightly bemused Jack turned to accompany Agent Patterson and a shackled Nina Myers, displeased to both her situation and the couple in front of her, across to Holding.

_3:00am _


	2. The Interrogation

**Disclaimer:** I literally don't own anything!

**Setting:** These scenes are alternatives to Season 3, 3:00 to 3:15am and follow on from my previous chapter. Nina is alive and back in custody, thanks largely to Michelle's actions, and her interrogation will recommence shortly.

**A/N:** I have only rewritten the scenes involved with the Nina's death and Chloe tracking Amador via his bank account. All remaining scenes have been left untouched and I'll add a short sentence to mark their place, continuing the story flow and acting as a reminder for these who haven't seen Season 3 recently.

_3:00_

Michelle and Tony walked side by side through the bullpen towards the Situation Room for their debriefs regarding Nina's escape and subsequent recapture. Passing her workstation, Michelle remembered the search protocol she had been running before Nina's entry into the bullpen with Tony at knifepoint. The search should be complete by now. Michelle placed her left hand on Tony's forearm, stopping him short in front of her desk

"I'd like to follow up on the search I was running earlier. Why don't you go ahead and debrief, I'll be there shortly."

Tony nodded "I'll call and let you know when they are ready for you."

Settling into her seat, Michelle unlocked her computer, and brought up the search protocol. It was a long shot but she was desperate to thwart both Nina and the potential biological threat. She had initiated a facial recognition search for Nina and Alvers against all Field Ops photographs from LA based agencies for the last three years. Many of the images were from seedy establishments that catered to discrete meetings of people who wished to remain anonymous. The search had yielded a list of 16 possible matches. Michelle immediately started to pull each image up and examine them carefully to determine whether the identification was correct, and more importantly whether the photo's location provided any useful information.

In the interim, Ryan and Gael had joined Tony in the Situation Room to conduct the debrief. Tony recounted how Nina manipulated the suicide attempt to assist her escape, and was explaining her sudden appearance behind him with a scalpel blade when Adam interrupted. "Tony, Mr Chappelle, there's something you need to see."

"What is it Adam?" Chappelle demanded.

Adam walked across to the computer and pulled up the hourly reports from Interpol. "There is a flagged item from the Russians regarding a dozen pathogen dispersal units missing from an armoury in the Ukraine."

"That means we could be looking at as many as twelve potential targets. We need to redouble our effort to locate this virus. Tony, make sure everyone is brought up to speed on this new information. I'll let Jack know the situation and make sure the Nina is immediately prepared for interrogation. Meet us in Holding Room 1 once you have finished up here." Chappelle ordered.

Reaching for the phone, Tony dialled Michelle's extension.

"CTU, Dessler" Michelle responded

"Michelle, there's been a development. Assemble all department heads in the Situation Room for a briefing in 2 minutes."

"OK" Michelle agreed. Hanging up, she walked into the middle of the bullpen and called everyone to attention to announce the briefing before heading across to join Tony in the Situation room. Tony had taken Adam's place in front of the computer to access Interpol and examine the Russian intelligence. Michelle sat beside him and assisted in the preparation of the information for presentation at the briefing.

3:04 Saunders arrives at the club to collect the virus from Amador.

3:05 _CTU briefing in which Tony & Michelle pass on the Russian intelligence.  
_(A/N: Tony's opening comment about Nina's death, and his subsequent argument with Chloe over it, do not occur.)

3:06 Saunders demonstrates the denotation devise to Amador and Alvers, and the initial payment is made.

_3:08_

Having concluded the briefing, Tony headed over to Holding Room 1 to join Jack for round two of the interrogation. With Ryan Chappelle and Agent Dalton already present in the viewing room, Michelle had opted to return to her search. Entering the viewing room, Tony walked over to Jack who was intently studying Nina through the two-way as a medic finished up bandaging her neck.

"OK Jack, how do you want to play this?" Tony asked.

"I need to make Nina understand that if she isn't willing to talk, there is no reason for me to let her live" Jack calmly replied.

"Remember Jack, we can't get any information out of her if she's dead." Jack nodded in agreement.

Chappelle interjected with an unnecessary reminder of the urgency of the situation, which they both ignored as they headed across to the Holding room.

Jack entered the room first, settling himself into the chair directly in front of Nina, while Tony propped himself up against the two-way glass thus making it impossible for Nina to keep them both within her line of sight.

"Hello Nina, ready to start co-operating?" Jack enquired calmly

"Jack not trusting you to run the interrogation anymore, Tony?" Nina taunted, turning to look across at Tony

Taking advantage of Nina's distracted state, Jack quickly slapped her across the face, forcefully redirecting her attention back to him. "Let me catch you up on the current situation, Nina. Amador and Alvers have the virus and a buyer has a dozen dispersal units with which to deploy it. We need to locate them now! Where are they?" Jack yelled vehemently, punctuating his final question with another blow to her face.

Returning Jack's gaze with a nonchalant expression, Nina remained silent.

Without breaking their eye contact, Jack pulled his weapon and levelled it at Nina's chest "Talk or you're dead."

"You can't kill me Jack, I'm your only lead" Nina countered.

"Your only a lead if you provide information Nina, if not you're useless"

"What guarantee do I have that you wont kill me the minute you've gotten your information?"

"I wouldn't risk the lives of millions of innocent Americans wasting precious time killing you when I could be out securing the virus." Jack responded, returning his gun to its holster.

"First Tony's intra-office affair and then your personal sacrifices for the job; it's nice to see that things around here haven't changed."

Barely seconds after Nina concluded her retort, Jack clenched his hand around her throat. His fingers dug into the sensitive nerves of the neck, sending spasms of pain throughout her body while his palm squeezed down on her trachea choking her. Jack continued to stare unwavering into Nina's eyes as she struggled to keep a neutral expression. As the seconds ticked away, the pain and desperation slowly crept onto Nina's face.

Tony covertly glanced at his watch and commenced the countdown, if Jack didn't let go in 90 seconds he would have to intervene. Not that he really wanted to save Nina's life, but he couldn't let their only lead die, and Jack was in enough trouble without an additional enquiry into his actions. Looking across at Nina anguished expression, Tony was instantly reminded of his own pain at the discovery of her treason. He couldn't even begin to imagine what must be going through Jack's mind; the internal conflict between wanting to make her pay for Teri's death and his sense of duty must be overwhelming.

Suddenly Nina's right hand moved, two rapid taps, the standard self-defence release sign. Jack cocked his head slightly in silent enquiry. Nina immediately repeated the sign, confirming her request, and with it a willingness to talk. Holding her throat and gaze for an agonising 5 seconds further, Jack finally let go and the silence was replaced with Nina's gasping as she attempted to regain a normal breathing pattern.

"Where are Alvers and Amador, Nina?" Jack demanded

Still struggling to breath, Nina croaked out "Water, please."

"Once you've told us where to find them."

"Downtown, the Central Motel. Alvers always stays there when he is in LA."

On the other side of the two-way glass Michelle gasped. She had just entered in time to hear last Nina's statement. Ryan Chappelle, monitoring the interrogation alongside Dalton, turned towards her.

"Michelle perfect timing, pass this information onto Chloe. Field Ops is going to need to access relevant satellite and video feeds for an immediate operation."

"Ryan, I just found a thread on Alvers and it indicates that he's in Chinatown." Michelle reported.

"Once Field Ops is set up for the raid on Alvers hotel, you may follow up on whatever secondary leads you wish." Chappelle replied.

"Ryan, my information is more reliable than Nina Myers word" Michelle countered.

"Nina knows Alvers, and Jack knows how to extract information. Get Field Ops moving now!" Chappelle ordered harshly.

Suppressing a sigh, Michelle turned and exited the room. As she moved back towards the bullpen, she glanced over her shoulder at the door to the interrogation room in front of which Patterson was standing guard. Nina had fooled Jack before, and she had nothing to gain by talking to them. Michelle reversed direction and walked up to Agent Patterson.

Raising the manila folder in her hands, she stated "I have information for Jack and Tony". Patterson keyed in the code and stepped aside for Michelle to enter.

Jack's questions had progressed in an attempt to elicit further information, albeit with little real success. He had just asked whether Alvers was in the habit of scheduling meetings in his hotel room when he heard the beep of the security keypad. Casting a quick glance towards the door, Jack noted Michelle's entrance before returning his full attention back to Nina who had responded with her third consecutive "I've already told you everything I know."

Michelle walked directly across the room towards Tony without looking across at either Jack or Nina. Meeting her gaze, Tony raised an eyebrow in enquiry to her presence. Wordlessly Michelle lifted the manila folder indicating that she had intel to share, as she closed the gap between them stopping so that their bodies were mere millimetres apart. Leaning in, she whispered her discovery into his ear ensuring that neither Nina, seated metres away nor Chappelle, carefully monitoring the exchange on the opposite side of the two-way could decipher anything.

After Michelle's monologue concluded Tony audibly enquired "This has been verified?"

Michelle took a half step back into the corner, handing across the folder while responding "Yes."

Tony opened the folder and rapidly perused its contents, before walking across to stand beside Jack. "Can you even tell the difference between the truth and your lies anymore Nina?" Tony questioned, as he placed the folder in front of Jack. Resting both palms on the table, Tony leaned forward until he was face to face with Nina, then continued "This is your last chance, tell us about Chinatown!"

Nina stared straight back at Tony with a smirk.

After taking a few seconds to flick through the contents of the folder, Jack dropped a photo of Nina and Alvers entering a run-down building in Chinatown in front of her. Raising his gaze to meet Nina's, he proceeded to wordlessly withdraw his gun and shoot her point blank in the shoulder. As the sound of the bullet revibrating and Nina's initial groans subsided, Jack stated dispassionately "Given your blood loss from the earlier neck wound, I'll estimate you have less than 5 minutes until you bleed to death. Tell me the address and I'll call a medic."

"10 Lei Min Way" Nina gasped out.

"We need a medic in here now, and get Chloe processing that address." Tony ordered as he moved to stem Nina's bleeding once again.

Jack was immediately on his feet and racing towards the door. "I'll prep my team, I want you running tactical with Chloe" Jack informed Tony, as he punched in the security code for the door. Before exiting, he glanced back at Michelle who had stepped forward to assist Tony "Good work, Michelle."

_3:15_

**A/N:** At this point, the Season 3 story line continues as originally aired.

For those readers who have recently watched Season 3, or have seen it enough times to know it verbatim, the following scenes would also require modification:  
- _3:18_ Kim's discussion about Nina's death with her dad before Jack and Chase leave CTU for the club.  
- _3:23_ Kim's call to Chase to provide directions and stating that they still will not have an address for another few minutes.  
- _3:45_ Tony's anger, although not his over protectiveness, at Michelle as she leaves for the Chandler Plaza Hotel  
- _3:51_ Michelle mentioning to Gael her on-going problems with Tony.

It appears the butterfly flapping its wings in China really does have an effect on the rainfall in Brazil. Given that I only changed 3 scenes (16 minutes), the ripple effect is considerable! The major outcome of my mini-chaos experiment is that Nina will be around to witness Tony being charged with treason…

To be continued…


	3. The Last Laugh

**Disclaimer:** Unfortunately my take-over bid was unsuccessful so I still don't own the show '24' or its characters.

**Setting:** This epilogue takes place post Season 3 and covers Nina thoughts on Tony's treason charge. This chapter is written from Nina's POV, therefore like most single author accounts, it is coloured by Nina's own personal perspective and bias.

**A/N:** I must confess to having no personal experience with the prison system. All details have been taken from 'Prison Break', another Fox series I don't own but would highly recommend.

Opening her eyes, Nina took a moment to orientate herself and remember were she was. One week ago she had been moved from the death row cell, which she had occupied the last few months, to solitary confinement to await this day, her last. Glancing at her watch, she noted the time, 6am. She had always been an early riser; she liked to get a jump-start on the rest of the world. Adapting to the stark cells, the abysmal institutional food and the enclosed, rigid environment had been easy enough for a chameleon like Nina. It was the never-ending empty time that was the real trial, and it was that specific reason for which Nina was almost glad today was her last day in prison. For she was a person who had always worked hard and prided herself on her achievements, many extraordinary accomplishments that few people could boast and fewer still could understand.

For what must have been the millionth time Tony's words entered her head:  
"_You betrayed everyone you know, including me. You murdered Jack's wife. You helped terrorists smuggle a nuclear bomb into this country. You are helping to unleash a deadly virus into the general population. Help me understand this, what do you want, what is it you get out of being a mass murder"_

His words had meant to shock her, to make her feel a sense of remorse for her actions. Yet to Nina, they marked the depth and breadth of her pursuits. While Tony could neither comprehend nor condone her exploits, even he was in awe of their magnitude. Of course, his need to understand stemmed from his desire to fathom how he could be so deceived about her. But Nina had no interest in attempting to explain concepts that he would never grasp. Tony saw things as good and bad, right and wrong and therefore limited himself to a monochromic world when there were hundreds of shades of grey out there. Nina's life was about pushing beyond the bounds of social norms while still blending into them. It was a challenge she had faced and successful fought until that eventful day when the Drazens declared war on Jack Bauer.

Once again, she considered what could have been. She remembered that moment when Jack Bauer held her at gunpoint, knowing her role in the adduction of Teri and Kim, but still unaware of her final treachery. If he had pulled the trigger she wouldn't have had to spend 18 months in jail before struggling to reintegrate into a world in which she no longer held a powerful position. Or if she had left CTU just a couple of minutes earlier, she could have made it to Munich where she could more easily have restarted her life. That was the problem with too much time, it made you to question and analyse each and every decision and action without the power to change any of them. Nina needed to focus on something different; her life and its direction were now a foregone conclusion.

She turned her thoughts back to Tony; had he gained any insight into her actions now that he too was a traitor? She had been astounded to hear the news of his arrest for treason and had immediately commissioned her lawyer to unearth the details. She had seen little point in him wasting time on appeals that would never succeed and she certainly had no interest in prolonging her misery. But Tony's story had given her something to mull over and amuse herself with during those long hours of prison time. She often speculated on how he was filling in the hours. Was he tormenting himself with the thoughts of never seeing his beloved wife? Or was he condemning himself for risking the lives of millions of innocent people to save one person, a federal agent who had struck Nina as anything but helpless. Just imagining Tony's internal conflict to justify his own actions against his personal beliefs, an exercise in futility, brought a smirk to Nina's face. She had been aware from their first meeting that Tony was an emotionally driven person, and had noted this weakness for future reference. When she lost Jack's favour, Tony had been simple for Nina to manipulate, and invaluable as a source of additional intel and support at CTU. And she could certainly see how he made an easy pawn in Saunders deadly game of cat and mouse.

Naturally her thoughts then progressed to the lovely Mrs Almeida. What had been her reaction to his sacrifice? Michelle loved her husband; their embrace upon her ensuring his rescue from Nina's hands had made that apparent. But it had been immediately evident to Nina that Michelle was poised, logic based woman. Was she upset over Tony's decision to risk the lives of millions, and their patriotic beliefs, to save her? Or was her anguish over his incarceration, and their forced separation, enough to overwhelm her reason. Nina couldn't help but ponder what Michelle would have done in the same situation. When Nina held Tony hostage, Michelle had ordered Jack to sacrifice Tony to allow for her recapture. Of course there was no way to know whether Michelle would be willing to go through such a course of action, nor could Nina determine if Jack would actually shoot Tony. However, her words indicated that Michelle was focused on the mission and aware that concessions were often required. She was definitely someone with whom Nina could relate, a thought that would categorically horrify the honour bound woman.

"Myers, breakfast" barked the guard as he pushed a tray through the slot in the door interrupting Nina's wondering thoughts.

"Doc Robins will be in shortly for your check-up" he added.

Without responding Nina collected the tray, musing on the irony that she had to be proclaimed as healthy enough to execute. Before devoting her full attention towards the procedures of her final day, she thought once again of Michelle and wondered which one of them had had the last laugh.

**A/N: **Apologies for the slightly depressing ending, unfortunately it is far too much work for one person to attempt to right the wrongs perpetuated against Tony and Michelle. To all those Michelle and Tony fans, take heart in the fact that they do eventually live happily ever after until death do they part. To all those Nina fans, I hope I didn't get your hopes up too high with Nina's temporary reprise.


End file.
